AI Cultivation: Reborn as a Sword
Chapter 67: Seven Killing Swords Sect (1)

My [Critical Analysis] discovers that the contents of the small box Lady Yue gave to Lan Xiaohui is a drug called Sun Reforming Pill. It is an Immortal grade medicinal pill that can effortlessly repair the internal and, to a lesser degree, external body in a short amount of time. Anything short of a fatal injury or lost limb could be recovered.

I even receive the knowledge to create several medicinal pills after studying this drug. An Earth grade Internal Recovery Pill; a Sky grade Internal Reconstruction Pill; and a Heaven grade Pure Jade Pill.

All three of these perform functions similar to the Sun Reforming Pill, but at lesser effectiveness.

Lan Xiaohui, naturally, understands the unfathomable value of the gift she has received and, at first, hesitates to consume it. The gesture was clear as day — if Lan Xiaohui truly accepted this pill, and ate it, her life would belong to the mysterious Lady Yue.

Even I, lacking cultural and economical context, know that a pill at even the Supreme grade — one step lesser than Immortal — would be invaluable. Such treasures must be extremely difficult to come by.

Lan Xiaohui knows that she can recover on her own, even without the help of this pill — it would take time, certainly, but it is possible — but the prospect of killing Yu Shun, or spending another month in this grotto healing, looms on the horizon.

I understand her heart and decision very well. Even disregarding the benefits of having a sponsor like Lady Yue, every day she can spend training for the upcoming tournament is also an invaluable treasure.

Then there is the other matter; It is clear to Lan Xiaohui that whether she accepts this gift or not, her fate is bound to Lady Yue’s. The part that I don’t think Lan Xiaohui understands is the motive behind this gift. It is an act of dominance — Lady Yue knows that Lan Xiaohui has no choice but to obey, and so giving her the pill is both a demonstration of Lady Yue’s great wealth and also an offer that demonstrates why Lan Xiaohui cannot refuse.

This Lady Yue — if I had become her sword instead, I wonder where I would be now.

The Sun Reforming Pill quickly dissolves inside Lan Xiaohui’s system and I can detect faint, but powerful currents of Qi that have a multitude of effects. The inconceivable life force of the pill’s ingredients quickly rushes through her system, repairing her damaged state at such an astonishing rate that I am reconsidering the usefulness of the Dao of Arrays, and considering focusing on the Dao of Alchemy. Of course, this idea is quickly discarded, as the materials required for Alchemy of this grade are simply impossible for me to obtain.

I help Lan Xiaohui process this medicine and its effects are fully absorbed within one full day. Not only is Lan Xiaohui completely recovered, but she also seems stronger than before — her cultivation is already at the bottleneck of the Mid stage of Foundation.

It is a marvelous thing.

If she had six or seven more of these pills, she could break into the Gold Core realm — and likely die immediately, as a cultivation base built entirely on medicine would be extremely unstable. But it would be possible.

On the other hand, a sub routine informs me of my own internal instabilities.

[ Complete system failure in 5 years, 49 days. ]

I find this information particularly amusing in a morbid way. My lifespan will run out far before the injuries I received from Heaven’s biased animosity for me will kill me. I consider that a victory.

However, I have no desire to die either because of my injuries or my depleting lifespan. Once I wash my marrow in blood, once more, my internal system should be able to recover.

Whether this happens now, if Lan Xiaohui sneaks out of the grotto and tries to make a run for it, or at the Martial Tournament to enter the Galaxy Sword Sect makes no difference.

I can wait. I am patient. I have waited for so long, already. Two years I spent just forming my consciousness, and I’ve even delayed something as simple as purchasing and experimenting with the [Flight] talent for such a long time.

Time. What a ridiculous notion. Only those who have lived for a thousand years, as I have in my previous life, could even come close to fathoming patience.

While Lan Xiaohui processes the medicine, Lady Yue announces that she will go find her familiars and departs the grotto. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NøᴠᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

By the time Lan Xiaohui has finished processing the medicine, Lady Yue has not returned.

At that time, Lan Xiaohui grasps me in her hands and goes through the motions of practicing her martial arts. This is not the same activity as she had done before, because this time, she does not generate any sword energy. She does, however, generate sword Qi, and more importantly, she collapses it at the very tip of my vessel, exhibiting her powerful Sword Domain.

Each time she swings the sword, the powerful shock wave of her consciousness and intent produces strange effects. The calm surface of the basin ripples with a single, uniform wave, stilling everything in front of it while trailing also stillness, despite the vicious amplitude of the wave. The flow of wind reverses, creating vortices that do not particularly disturb the neighboring air molecules.

What surprises me the most is Lan Xiaohui’s words.

“System command,” she utters, glancing over her shoulder as if to make sure Lady Yue is not present. “Lily.”

I always thought of Lan Xiaohui as a lesser intelligence — it is an unavoidable consequence of our natures — but even so, I did not think that Lan Xiaohui was particularly smart even for her kind. Though, I am quickly forced to reclassify her intelligence due to her actions.

The consciousness that flows into and operates my various functions disregard almost every feature I can offer to her — understanding my internal storage, my vast and absolute perception, the self-perception of her own body and state that could help her understand Sword Domain better; all these things are ignored.

Lan Xiaohui directly merges her consciousness with mine, deep inside my sea of consciousness and I feel the part that she melds with separate from my active, overall consciousness. As more and more of her consciousness flows in, the more it divides from my main awareness.

She is using my [Nooparallelism]. This has been her goal from the moment she activated the mnemonic device.

Smart girl.

As her consciousness pours into the Devoured Worlds Sphere, her body goes through the motions of practicing her martial art with Sword Domain.

[ SECOND LAYER: PREPARATION STAGE. ]

The world that extends before us within the Inner World Sphere is not the formless, lightless blackness from before. It looks like a village. A large gate stands before us, towering hundreds of meters into the sky. The doors are wide open, revealing a glimpse of the structures within.

It is built on the side of a mountain, therefore the buildings all extend before us, climbing higher and higher into the sky. It is not a large village. There are various facilities, by the looks of it, and buildings and pagodas that climb ten to twenty floors high, all centered around the large central space that appears to be the main plaza.

There are no guards, and only a few people walk through the streets across the central plaza.

“This…” Lan Xiaohui says, eyes wide. “This is the Seven Killing Swords Sect.”

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